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Altecrast
Altecrast is the origin system of the Roanian race and the capital of their first empire. A binary star system, the habitable belt starts at Altecrast Tertius. By any reasonable (i.e, non-Roanian) standards, however, the habitable belt starts outside the system, as Altecrast's twin suns occasionally violently flare. Contents System Composition The twin suns (Alatra and Coras) together account for roughly 90% of the system's mass, with the three rocky worlds, the asteroid belts, and the single neptune-sized gas giant making up the remainder. Altecrast Prime A desolate, scorched, twisted and pitted world. Solar radiation here is so powerful that life in any form simply cannot exist, though there are points, mainly inside craters, where the temperature would otherwise be conducive to settlement. There is no lasting atmosphere. Altecrast Secundus Altecrast Secundus is an intensely unstable world. In the distant past a very large rogue asteroid (some theorise the planet's moon) crashed into the planet and 'broke' it, causing fault lines across the planet to open up. Owing to the relatively short timespan of civilised Roanian science, it's still not established whether Altecrast Secundus is growing back, or whether it's still shattering. It would be easily established if the Roanians were willing to land, but as yet few are willing to try. "To Land on Altecrast Secundus" is the traditional euphemism for a suicide mission. Altecrast Tertius Altecrast Tertius was the capital of the original Empire of the Twin Lamps for over a thousand years until the plague shattered that entity. While Altecrast's population remained largely unscathed, its resources had been completely used up over the millenia, and the surviving Roanians began to relocate to the other surviving settlement in Rudan. Shortly after the last colonial ship left port, all contact with Altecrast Tertius was lost. As the Rudan settlement lacked the resources at the time to try to establish the truth, the question was left unanswered for nearly 500 years, the location of Altecrast itself virtually unknown. Rediscovery and Resettlement Aleazaner I, however, had a thirst for conquest, and while his troops were expanding the Divine Imperium in every direction, he was approached by the Scholastics with a request to fund a discovery of Altecrast. Desiring more fame, and hoping to better sit his only semilegal self upon the throne, he approved the expedition. When the scholastics arrived, however, the planet was totally uninhabited, the cities and palaces in an advanced state of ruin. Upon this discovery reaching him, it is believed Emperor Aleazaner had the scholastics killed and claimed credit for the discovery himself, appending the title 'Keeper of the Twin Lamps', lifted wholesale from the original Empire, to his own name. He also commanded a broad settlement of scholars and citizens return to Altecrast, in hopes of discovering the truth about the planet's abandonment. So far, little is known for certain, but it is believed that the twin stars had entered a particularly violent cycle because of the presence of a foreign body within the system, so dubbed 'NEMESIS'. A controversial theory is that NEMESIS is Altecrast Prime, but as of yet no proof has arisen to back this claim. Recent History The Roanians on Altecrast live primarily around the ancient Palace of the Lamps. Considered too unimportant by either side in Caurentin's war to be worth bothering with, the locals were largely left alone for much of the war, until Alessa rose the banner of the ancient empire and began the magical revolution within the Palace itself. Rumours continue to circulate that Alessa intends to move the capital of the Empire of the Twin Lamps back to Altecrast Tertius, however Rudan Prime has become so much the center of imperial life over the past five thousand years that the planet seems doomed to remain a backwater. Category:Roania